Post by malebranche on Feb 25, 2014 6:40:43 GMT
Just typed out the first part of my fleets backstory, explaining the origins of my scouting forces and their "grand plan". I just typed it out on my phone in a few minutes, so apologies if its pretty poorly written.
Hive Fleet Malebranche:
Milennia before Behemoth or Kraken first appeared, at the height of the great crusade, another tyranid force invaded our galaxy. This was a different time for the Imperium however, and the small scouting force was quickly eliminated by the loyalist Death Guard in a one-sided battle.
One lone, crippled hive ship escaped the slaughter. The dying ship managed to escape to the far edge of the galaxy, but lacked the strength to go further. It became weaker and weaker as it searched in vain for a world that could support life in this dead region of the galaxy. It stumbled across a world that was still being born, an ocean world where the only land was the site of volcanic eruptions and single celled organisms struggled to survive. It was here that the dying hive ship expended the last of its energy, crashing into the oceans and releasing a vast cloud of spores as finally expired.
This was a world unsuited for life. It was many, many times the size of the earth, covered almost entirely by ocean. These oceans were constantly ravaged by volcanic activity and filled with sulphuric poisons from below, and it sat too close to its sun, which hit it with a constant barrage of radiation and heat from above.
Most of the spores released into this toxic environment died in a matter of minutes, but tyranids always adapt. Still, even they would find this world challenging. For a thousand years they struggled. The great hive ship quickly dissolved, leaving only the remnants of its spores. Each time it seemed that life may gain a foothold, a barrage of solar flares or volcanic eruptions would decimate the struggling organisms. But over time, these single celled organisms began to gain a foothold. After four thousand years, these primitive organisms were finally gaining the upper hand. Eventually the enormous ocean world was teeming with life, and though this was little more than plankton, bacteria and algae, each organism contained the essence of the hive. By the close of the 38th milennium, life had won the war against death on one of the most inhospitable planets in the galaxy. The surface of the world was explored by imperial forces, who quickly declared it a useless, dead world before moving on. But beneath the surface, great jungles of seaweed thrived, each teeming with life but never reaching for the surface.
Then, in the early years of the 41st millennium, Behemoth drew close to our galaxy, and the hive mind reached across to touch its children. Suddenly, this world had purpose. The next step in evolution on this came in the form of digestion pools. Soon the life of this world finally reached for the ocean surface, and capillary towers reached into the poisonous skies. A dark shell protected them from the poisons, heat and radiation of the skies, and began feeding nutrients into the void of space.
By the time Behemoth fell at Macragge, a new hive fleet sat above a far - flung world where none would ever think to look. But this was not to be a fleet like Behemoth. This fleet had another purpose; not to devour everything and grow into an unstoppable force, but to watch. To explore the galaxy undetected and to only feed on the worlds none would miss. These reddish-black ships were to remain undetected, and as they gathered enough resources to grow, they would instead return home. The inhospitable world at the edge of the galaxy would be fed every scrap her children could spare, her scouts returning with bloated hive ships to crash into the oceans and begin the cycle anew. Hidden by an enormous warp shadow, this world would pump a constant stream of voracious predators into the galaxy to slip undetected between worlds and emerge into the most unexpected of places. And while these scouting fleets caused chaos, it would work on it's true plan; the building of a larger fleet, larger than any that had been seen before, to devour the galaxy from within.
Hive Fleet Malebranche:
Milennia before Behemoth or Kraken first appeared, at the height of the great crusade, another tyranid force invaded our galaxy. This was a different time for the Imperium however, and the small scouting force was quickly eliminated by the loyalist Death Guard in a one-sided battle.
One lone, crippled hive ship escaped the slaughter. The dying ship managed to escape to the far edge of the galaxy, but lacked the strength to go further. It became weaker and weaker as it searched in vain for a world that could support life in this dead region of the galaxy. It stumbled across a world that was still being born, an ocean world where the only land was the site of volcanic eruptions and single celled organisms struggled to survive. It was here that the dying hive ship expended the last of its energy, crashing into the oceans and releasing a vast cloud of spores as finally expired.
This was a world unsuited for life. It was many, many times the size of the earth, covered almost entirely by ocean. These oceans were constantly ravaged by volcanic activity and filled with sulphuric poisons from below, and it sat too close to its sun, which hit it with a constant barrage of radiation and heat from above.
Most of the spores released into this toxic environment died in a matter of minutes, but tyranids always adapt. Still, even they would find this world challenging. For a thousand years they struggled. The great hive ship quickly dissolved, leaving only the remnants of its spores. Each time it seemed that life may gain a foothold, a barrage of solar flares or volcanic eruptions would decimate the struggling organisms. But over time, these single celled organisms began to gain a foothold. After four thousand years, these primitive organisms were finally gaining the upper hand. Eventually the enormous ocean world was teeming with life, and though this was little more than plankton, bacteria and algae, each organism contained the essence of the hive. By the close of the 38th milennium, life had won the war against death on one of the most inhospitable planets in the galaxy. The surface of the world was explored by imperial forces, who quickly declared it a useless, dead world before moving on. But beneath the surface, great jungles of seaweed thrived, each teeming with life but never reaching for the surface.
Then, in the early years of the 41st millennium, Behemoth drew close to our galaxy, and the hive mind reached across to touch its children. Suddenly, this world had purpose. The next step in evolution on this came in the form of digestion pools. Soon the life of this world finally reached for the ocean surface, and capillary towers reached into the poisonous skies. A dark shell protected them from the poisons, heat and radiation of the skies, and began feeding nutrients into the void of space.
By the time Behemoth fell at Macragge, a new hive fleet sat above a far - flung world where none would ever think to look. But this was not to be a fleet like Behemoth. This fleet had another purpose; not to devour everything and grow into an unstoppable force, but to watch. To explore the galaxy undetected and to only feed on the worlds none would miss. These reddish-black ships were to remain undetected, and as they gathered enough resources to grow, they would instead return home. The inhospitable world at the edge of the galaxy would be fed every scrap her children could spare, her scouts returning with bloated hive ships to crash into the oceans and begin the cycle anew. Hidden by an enormous warp shadow, this world would pump a constant stream of voracious predators into the galaxy to slip undetected between worlds and emerge into the most unexpected of places. And while these scouting fleets caused chaos, it would work on it's true plan; the building of a larger fleet, larger than any that had been seen before, to devour the galaxy from within.
